For years, the news about humpbacks was positive. Rebounding from near decimation after landing on the endangered species list in 1973, more and more whales came to Maui each winter from their feeding grounds in Southeast Alaska to breed and give birth. The Northern Pacific humpbacks were “de-listed” in 2016. Ironically, that’s the year things […]

In an effort to provide a more peaceful experience for Haleakala National Park’s visitors (and to save money), the National Park Service is implementing a new wood locker system for backcountry cabin users. The new system is expected to reduce helicopter traffic, noise, and impacts to wildlife and visitors. Beginning Nov. 1, each of the […]

If you consume any sort of social media, this weekend you probably noticed the #MeToo hashtag or saw women posting the words “Me Too” on Facebook. Doing so signifies that the woman has at some point in her life been the victim of sexual harassment and/or assault. I really started to see the trend on […]

Visitors to Hawaii’s national parks spent almost $400 million in the state last year. A new National Park Service report shows that in 2016, nearly 5.8 million visitors to national parks in Hawaii spent more than $394 million. That spending resulted in nearly 4,800 jobs and had a cumulative benefit to the state economy of […]

Hawaii, and Maui, is in a bubble. Enclosed by the Pacific and with our own unique culture and heritage, we are literally and figuratively removed from much of what happens on the mainland. Though residents are quite aware of island politics, national politics seems far away and foreign. It’s tempting to think that the miles […]

Sorry for the last-minute notice (shows what happens when I don’t check my messages over the weekend) but TODAY (May 2, 2016), the Maui Nui Marine Resource Council is putting on an all-day workshop on Kihei water quality over at the Humpback Whale Sanctuary. According to organizers, the workshop is a follow-up to MauiTime‘s Mar. 16 story […]

As a way of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will release 16 stamps illustrated with images from some of our National Parks. One of them, the USPS announced today, will show Haleakala. The photo used in the stamp comes from Seattle photographer Kevin Ebi. Here’s Ebi’s story […]

Jack Johnson and his wife Kim have committed to fund $100,000 worth of field trip grants to help all 17,000 fourth-grade students in the state visit a National Park, including Haleakala. The financial commitment is part of a new partnership between Johnson’s Kokua Hawaii Foundation and the Every Kid in a Park Program. “It’s when […]

Haleakala National Park is participating in a national program that invites all fourth grade students to visit the park for free. The goal of the White House’s new Every Kid in a Park program is to connect fourth graders with the great outdoors and inspire them to become future environmental stewards, ready to preserve and […]

Hawaii Girls Court aspires to keep young women in the juvenile system from returning to trouble’s door. With this in mind, on June 16 the court recently flew eight girls and four court officials from Oahu to Maui for a three-day, two-night hike in the Haleakala crater. Plunking the group down in one of the […]

A proposal to increase fees to Haleakala National Park has been approved by the National Park Service. Beginning on June 1, daily park fees will increase incrementally over the next three years; the new fee structure was designed to meet national standards for parks with similar visitor amenities. The per-person fee will go up in […]

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but the federal government is about to embark on some of the most contentious budget negotiations in years. Because that’s the whole point of electing right-wing Republicans to congress while a moderately liberal lame duck Democratic president is finishing out his second term, right? Eager to start exercising some power, […]

[Note: this post originally went up with a stock shot of a Haleakala Visitor Center building, but not the one that sustained damage. Since then the park sent us actual shots of the building in question, and the post’s photos have been updated accordingly.] The Haleakala National Park Visitor Center has been closed until further […]

For the first time, this Dec. 7 the National Park Service and U.S. Navy will be live-streaming their commemoration of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. “Prior to the start of the ceremony, Pearl Harbor survivors and WWII veterans will be interviewed and viewers will get a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the ceremony,” states a […]

Though it’s not forecast to hit Maui County directly, Hurricane Ana could still bring a lot of moisture, wind and swell to us this weekend. To be safe, Haleakala National Park closed today at noon and will remain closed “until park managers can assess the safety conditions of the park’s roads, trails, campgrounds, and visitor […]

So this weekend I got a chance to spend a few days relaxing over on the Big Island. And me being the history nerd that I am, I insisted on visiting the imposing and extremely well preserved Pu‘ukohola Heiau, site of perhaps the second most important death in Hawaii in the last couple of centuries […]